It is my pleasure to welcome all participants
to this regional workshop on rehabilitation of agriculture in tsunami affected
areas: one and a half years later.

This workshop is a follow-up to the regional
workshop on strategies for rehabilitation and management of salt-affected soil from
seawater intrusion, held from 31 March to 1 April 2005. Many of you may
recall that the workshop provided an excellent opportunity for participants to
share expertise and exchange
information on rehabilitation efforts to support the affected farming communities. Various approaches for reclamation
and management of salt-affected soils for resumption of agricultural production applicable to the specific local
conditions were discussed. Based on
the findings and conclusions of the workshop, a "Regional Strategic
Framework for the Reclamation of
Salt-affected Soils and Agriculture Recovery in Tsunami affected Areas"
was formulated and widely
disseminated for use by various actors involved in the rehabilitation of the agricultural sector.

Immediately following the tsunami, FAO was
actively involved in various ways in assisting the tsunami affected countries
resume agricultural activities. In particular, a number of emergency assistance projects
were launched to support farming communities in the affected regions who lost their production, assets and subsequently
the means to support their livelihood. While such short-term emergency assistance was crucial, it is our conviction that
a long-term, sustainable development
approach is essential for "building back better" the affected rural
communities. In this regard, one of
the main challenges now is to identify suitable interventions for longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction of the
agriculture sector. Such interventions should be carried out in a sustainable manner best suited to the local
agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions. And for that an integrated and participatory
approach is needed to identify promising technologies that could easily be
adopted or adapted by local farmers.

In this context, FAO continues to
collaborate with a number of national and international organizations such
as related UN agencies, CGIAR centres, donor agencies, academic institutions and NGOs to provide
policy advice and technical support to national efforts for development of long-term
rehabilitation plans and development strategies for the agriculture sector.

The overarching objective of this workshop
is to assess the progress made so far in addressing the emergency needs for
resumption of agricultural activities and ongoing rehabilitation activities so
that policies
and strategies can be developed to support strategizing longer-term
rehabilitation efforts. The main objectives of this workshop are to:

collect information on all past and ongoing
rehabilitation efforts and identify overall gaps
in the
agriculture subsectors and rehabilitation interventions;

review and discuss national strategies with emphasis on
mid- to long-term rehabilitation of
the
agriculture sector;

explore possibilities of strengthening national
programmes/activities related to the
rehabilitation
of the agriculture sector; and

develop mechanisms for coordination and exchange of
information on the various
initiatives
being undertaken.

I am pleased to see so many
participants from all the affected countries, and representatives from a large number of
international and regional organizations at this workshop. This is indeed not
only a reflection of your continued commitment to help the affected people move
towards long-term, sustainable development, but also of the importance you have attached
to partnership as we move our efforts to a new phase in rehabilitation of the
agricultural sector. All of you possess practical experiences from the real
world. Your active participation and inputs will be highly valuable in identifying action
plans towards achieving the above objectives.

I wish you well in your endeavours and look forward to seeing the output
of this workshop.